Love. Yeah, its kind of hard to imagine that word cropping
up in a game review, especially when it encapsulates the story of Squaresofts next
installment in the FF series--Final Fantasy VIII, for those who havent been
following. After a wait and numerous MPEG previews on various websites, screen shots to
make you drool over, and rumor after rumor, its landed on our shores during a busy
week for the gaming community. Put down that Dreamcast control and pick up this title,
'cause youre going to want to experience this latest fantasy.

Lets
run through the games premise. You play the character of young Squall Leonhart, a
member of an elite mercenary group known as SeeD based out of Balamb Garden, your training
facility. As the first disc unfolds you learn that theres more going on than what
you know. Isnt there always? Your quest is to go against the Sorceress Edea. Now,
this may sound like a spoiler, but it isnt. As any experienced FF player out there
will know, this isnt the full story. Expect the story to get more complex and dense
as it unfolds across the four disc set.

I
really enjoyed this installment over all the others in the series--this is by far the most
fleshed-out story Ive seen in an RPG. Its like reading a bookas you
progress, you begin to get a feel for who Squall ishis internal struggles with
becoming a leader and the fear of relying upon someone else besides himself. Instead of
coming up with the quests and monsters, Squaresoft built this game around the story of
Squall falling in love with Rhinoa. This isnt your classic
wander-around-kill-monsters-collect-things game.

Yes, you
do have your mini-quests that dont really work into the story, but the cool thing is
that you dont have to play these. You are given the option of continuing with the
story or taking a break to increase your characters XP and to gather more GFs. There are
points where youll want to do this. Like any RPG, there seems to be a point where
you are forced to wander around and rise in level before moving on, but dont let
this get you down. Squaresoft has structured the game in such a way that your level
increases as you proceed through the game. Yes, the battles will be a little more
difficult, but you can still finish it without doing the side quests.

After
this game, Ive seen what the PlayStation is capable of and what it is limited to.
Squaresoft has pushed the limitations of Sonys hardware with FFVIII. Some of the
unique tricks in this game are FMVs that are going on behind the movement of your
characters across the screen. And, by far, these FMVs are top notch eye candy.
Theres seemingly no pause between action and movie. To say the least, the graphics
make seamless transitions. There are sections where explosions and battles are ensuing
while you must struggle through the landscape, making your way from point A to point B,
hoping you wont be attacked. FFVIII is not just a game. Its more of an
interactive movie; it heralds the future of RPG gaming.

Another
addition Squaresoft has made is the use of the dual-shock controller. Yeah, I know. Cool
isnt it? Theyve also made it a little easier to balance between running and
walking, something VII had a problem with. Theres also less confusion on where to go
when youre in an area. Like a good RPG, they nudge you in the right direction
discreetly instead of just forcing you into something.

As
always, the battle sequences and the controls are the same. The difference, though, with
VIII is that instead of channeling magic you can now junction things known as Guardian
Forces (or GF during the game). Essentially, GFs are BOSS characters you acquire and add
to your arsenal of magic and weapons. Whats nice about this new system is instead of
just having your party of three characters you can now use the GFs who have their own HP,
making it easier for you to get through some of the more difficult sections of the game.
And trust me, there are plenty of sections thatll challenge your ability to balance
attacks with magic and GFs.

Dont
misunderstand, magic hasnt been totally written off in VIII. The way your characters
acquire magic is to "draw" various spells from draw points found in towns and
other areas. Basically, what youre doing is stocking it up. One thing I didnt
figure out until I made it toward the end of the second discskipping the instruction
manual completelyis the ability to not only draw from draw points but to draw from
enemies. In some cases this is a must if you want to defeat them. Youre able to
either stock the points or redirect the magic back at your opponent.

Alright, now down to the few flaws of this game. The only thing that kind of struck me
as odd is that weapon and armor upgrades have taken a back seat. Instead, most of the time
you find yourself using your GFs in battle instead of fighting it out with your gunblade.
But Squaresoft balances this out nicely if youre willing to run around and collect
all the GFs that are out there. Yep, thats my only problem with the game.

I dont need to say that this is a must play, must own game. It seems to
me that Final Fantasy VIII is the final hurrah for the PlayStation as we move into the
next generation of consoles. Its like a story book ending for the generation of PSX
gaming. Squaresoft has taken the hardware to the limits, showing us that other developers
out there havent been taking full advantage of the hardware at their fingertips. By
far Final Fantasy VIII is this years reigning champion of RPGs, but its also
the only game Ive seen take full advantage of the PSX hardware. Go, young gunblade,
and experience this RPG.